


Go West

by HiLarpItsCat



Series: Evie's Backstory [2]
Category: Scion (Tabletop RPG)
Genre: 1850s, Backstory, F/M, TBD IC Canon, Yankee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-26 17:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6249574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiLarpItsCat/pseuds/HiLarpItsCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>St. Charles, IL<br/>1852<br/>By the river</p><p>Some say that God is by your side in your darkest hour.<br/>Well, *a* god, at least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Go West

_St. Charles, IL_  
_1852_  
_By the river_

Two weeks. It had been two weeks. 

Two weeks, and that wasn't even counting the ride to Gothenburg and the endless weeks spent crossing the ocean. 

Two weeks since they arrived in America, thinking the worst was finally over. Two weeks since they stepped off of the boat. 

Fourteen days from that boat to now, standing by a river with the sun setting behind him, trying to clear the stink from his head. 

She had sickened so quickly, he hadn't noticed. He didn't even know where they had taken her body, it had happened so quickly. They needed the bed free, there were so many people sick. Everybody seemed to be sick. Maybe he was sick too. 

The name was the same in Swedish. Cholera. 

He overheard someone saying that the Irish doctor, Crawford, wanted everyone to stay away from one another to stop the spread. But too many people were afraid, and besides, where could they go?

He was all right with being alone. He didn't know anyone here anyway, not anymore. He was probably already sick. 

She was in heaven now, she must be. Quietly pious, never complained, if there was a heaven she must be there now. 

Heaven seemed very far away right now. 

He hoped that God would understand what he was about to do. He was probably going to die soon anyway, so what difference did a few days make in the eyes of heaven? Nothing more than a blink of an eye. 

Drowning wouldn't be pretty, but surely it was better than cholera.

He had taken only one step toward the riverbank before someone caught his arm. 

"Hey! Don't go that way!" A woman's voice. For a moment his heart slammed against his chest in a wild hope, but no, it wasn't her face he saw when he turned. 

She wore a light-colored dress and a red-and-white striped kerchief in her hair, her hair was like golden wheat. She looked familiar. Did he see her on the boat?

"What are you doing?" she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she looped her arm through his and guided him away from the riverbank. With her touch, the fight had gone out of him. He let her lead the way. 

Their destination was a small whitewashed barn, almost a chicken coop. There was a tiny iron stove in one corner, a small bed, and a chair. She gestured to the bed. "You look tired," she said. "Sit. Rest." 

"I might be sick," he said quietly. 

She moved closer to him and looked silently into his eyes for a moment. Then she placed a small kiss on his lips. "Not anymore," she said. 

It was as if all the dams in his heart crumbled at once. He sank down onto the bed and began to cry. 

He didn't know how many hours passed after that, while she held him and listened to his story. He didn't know at what exact point they did more than holding, when she opened her dress and his shirt and her legs and he found oblivion in her arms and hair. 

He woke up alone the next morning. One the inside of the door she had painted in bright red letters:

**GO WEST**


End file.
